Refuge
by KatarinaZ
Summary: What happens after Hermione sees Lavender and Ron together? Upset, she runs, looking for somewhere to be alone. On the Astronomy Tower in the middle of the night, she finds Malfoy struggling to cope with his new responsibilities. What happens that night, and the nights after, she never expected. One-shot.


A/N: This is the first fic I've posted on this site! Read and enjoy!

Ron Weasley is such an idiot.

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

Next chance I get, I'll poke my wand up his...

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

Hermione paused at the top of the stairs. Facing the cold rain was a black-clothed figure with white-blonde hair. Malfoy. She turned to walk down the stairs when a voice stopped her.

"Granger."

Hermione paused, unsure of how he had noticed her. She crept forward to the railing. Malfoy didn't move. Hermione looked closer at his face. Were those tears that she saw?

"Get away from me."

She took a few steps back.

"NOW."

Hermione turned and ran down the stairs. What had she just seen?

.

.

Hermione found herself climbing the stairs of the Astronomy Tower again the next night. She kept telling herself that it wasn't to see Malfoy again. But deep down inside, she knew that wasn't true. She was curious as to why he was alone on the Astronomy Tower crying, instead of with his Slytherin cronies. He had been alone this year a lot more often, with Crabbe and Goyle nowhere in sight. Harry thought that this was because he was now a Death Eater, but that was a ridiculous idea. You-Know-Who would never let a sixteen year old join his inner circle, much less the son of Lucius Malfoy. Considering how bad Lucius had bungled the mission at the Ministry a few months ago, she was surprised Malfoy or his father were still alive.

When Hermione reached the top of the stairs, she wasn't all too surprised to see Malfoy standing at the railing.

"Thinking about jumping, Malfoy?"

Malfoy turned on her, fury written in the lines of his face.

"What part of 'get away from me' do you not understand?!"

"I..I..." she stuttered.

"Go. Away." Malfoy choked out, tears welling over his red-rimmed eyes.

"I..I..I just..."

"Go. Please. Just go."

Please? Malfoy must be a wreck if he said please, she thought. Indeed, tears were flowing freely down his face now. His face was paler than usual, and lined with exhaustion.

"Do you understand what I am saying Granger? Leave me alone!"

"D...do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about it? Who do you think you are? My mother?

"N..no...I just.. I mean this is so weird." She gulped. "I mean, you're Malfoy."

They stood silently for a moment, tension weighing down the air.

"I'll just...go then." Hermione turned and scampered down the stairs, Malfoy watching her departure with confusion in his eyes.

.

.

The next night, Hermione once again found herself at the top of the Astronomy Tower. Without surprise, so was Malfoy. She walked over to the railing and stood right next to him. He didn't acknowledge her presence. Together they stood, each in their own thoughts, until the sun began to rise, and then Malfoy made his exit down the stairs.

.

.

They stood at the railing again the next night, side by side. No one said anything, but it was a comfortable silence. How it was this easy to be in Malfoy's presence, Hermione had no idea, but she was curious more than anything. He just felt so vulnerable.

"What was that? You think I'm vulnerable?" Malfoy asked, incredulous.

With a shock, Hermione realized that she had spoken her thoughts out loud.

"Ah..well..."

Malfoy rolled up his sleeve, exposing a large black tattoo. The Dark Mark. Hermione gasped. Harry was right, she thought, but how?

Malfoy frowned. "He's getting stronger, you know. It burns."

"Your parents... they were okay with this?" She gestured to the Mark.

"Of course. They're always happy to serve the Dark Lord," Malfoy said with bitterness.

"But.. You-Know-Who let you join? You're not even of age yet!"

"Blame my father. If it weren't for his stupidity, I wouldn't be in this situation in the first place." Malfoy sneered.

"I'm sorry."

Malfoy stared at her in shock.

"You're sorry? For me? What the hell for?"

"Your situation. It's polite to apologize for people in bad situations, isn't it?" Hermione reached out to touch the Dark Mark. When he didn't pull away, she began to trace it with her hand. She was surprised to feel that it was as smooth as the unmarked skin. The only difference was that it was unnaturally cold. After a few moments, she said,

"Did it hurt when he gave it to you?"

"It was like getting branded by a flaming rod." He winced at the memory.

He looked away from her. When he looked back at her, she noticed the tears begin to well up again. She pulled away,

"I'll..I'll just go then." She turned to run back down the stairs, but then he reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Stay."

"Stay?"

He nodded. She returned to the railing, standing by his side again. After a few moments, she said.

"He asked you to do something."

"Yes."

She thought for a long moment, mulling over the puzzle pieces in her head. Then it all came together.

"If you don't do what he tells you, he'll kill you, and likely your entire family."

He said nothing, but the tears falling down his face gave her her answer.

"I'm really sorry."

His trickling tears turned into full-out sobs, his body shaking and trembling. Hermione put a hand on his back, which seemed to steady him. He looked up into her eyes, suffering clearly written in his face.

"What do I do?" He choked out,

"What you can." She said back.

After a few moments, his crying resumed, more forcefully than before, and he started shaking so badly that he couldn't stand, so he sunk to the floor. Hermione sat down next to him and pulled him to her, wrapping her arm around him. He curled into her, sobbing into her t-shirt. She sat there, whispering condolences to his shaking form.

After quite a while, he had stopped crying enough to pull away from her. He looked up at her, expecting to find disgust in her eyes, but instead found only concern, which almost made him break down again. She reached out, drawing her finger over his cheeks, wiping the tears out from under his eyes. He flinched at first, but then relaxed at her comforting touch. She began to pull away, but he reached up and caught her hand. He ran his fingers over the many calluses on her palm, bringing tingles down her spine. Dropping her hand, he reached up and began to caress the line of her jaw. A warm tingling began to spread from her stomach, up to her lips. Then, she made the mistake of looking directly into his eyes. His smoldering gray eyes intensified that tingling into a choking heat. She slowly leaned forward, lips trembling, when his lips finally covered hers. His lips, warm and firm, caught hers with a rush of warmth. His lips were very gentle, almost hesitant. She returned the kiss with a hint of fierceness, trying to console him, trying to make him forget. Caught in the pleasure of the kiss, she reached up to his white-blonde locks, and began to run her fingers through the silky strands. He also reached up to run his fingers through her hair, fingers pulling through wild curls with a new intensity. It didn't occur to her at that moment that she, Hermione Granger, friend of Harry Potter was kissing Draco Malfoy, Death Eater. Then, she heard footsteps pause at the top of the stairs, bringing her back to reality.

"Bloody hell!"

The voice belonged to a very angry Ron. She quickly pushed Malfoy away.

"This...this isn't what it looks like!"

"No I know what this looks like! You're snogging a bloody snake!"

"Ron."

"And Malfoy of all people."

"Ron! Not here!"

"Fine! But when we get back to the common room, you are explaining why you were snogging that bloody snake in the middle of the night!"

"I don't have to explain anything! What I do is my business!"

"But you can't just do that with him."

Hermione sighed. "Ron, just let it go. I promise I won't ever go near him again."

"You'd better not!"

"Let's just go back to the common room. Just give me one second." She said, tired of arguing.

Hermione looked at Malfoy one last time, a pained expression on her face. She was shocked to see a similar expression on his face before she finally turned and scampered down the stairs after Ron.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Make sure to review and favorite! I plan to make a collection of one-shots and drabbles soon on here, so be on the look out for that.


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